


The Safe House

by cordeliadelayne



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Fake Character Death, Getting Together, Kissing, M/M, Not Really Character Death, Safehouses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24446305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cordeliadelayne/pseuds/cordeliadelayne
Summary: Q was declared dead on the Tuesday. Bond didn't hear about it till the Thursday.
Relationships: James Bond/Q
Comments: 6
Kudos: 177





	The Safe House

“What do you mean, dead?”

“I realise this comes as a shock,” M said, the line seeming to buzz in Bond's ears, “but we have a temporary replacement who is fully briefed and will be able to assist with the rest of your -”

“What do you mean, dead?” Bond asked again, standing up and moving away from the window. He was in a deluxe hotel in Barcelona, waiting to meet a woman who had ties with a terrorist organisation they needed more information on. Q was supposed to be in his ear, directing him as he hacked into the woman's phone. And now...

“What do you mean, dead?” Bond asked again once it became clear that M wasn't going to say anything more.

“I need you focused on the job at hand, 007. Does 008 need to step in?”

008 was currently standing in the doorway of the bathroom, pulling up her dress, sans knickers, and moving to reapply her lipstick. Their mark was bisexual, so they weren't taking any chances on this mission.

“008 and I will do what is necessary,” Bond said. “But I want to know what happened to Q.”

“There was an accident. Nadiya will run you through the last minute details.” Then M hung up before Bond could ask anything else.

“What's happened to Q?” 008 asked.

“He's dead,” Bond said.

008 stopped in her tracks. “Dead? How?”

“Damned if I know,” Bond replied. “We still good?”

“Of course,” she replied, turning back to the mirror. “I liked Q,” she said after a moment.

“Me too,” Bond agreed quietly. His phone pinged with a message that their mark was five minutes out and he turned to finish dressing himself. Right now he had bigger things to worry about.

* * * * *

Bond was used to focusing on more than one task at a time, juggling a voice in his ear with the one in front of him but he couldn't help feel the relief deep in his bones when the mark preferred 008's attentions to his own. He played the role of disgruntled boyfriend and stood nursing a whisky at the bar as 008 flirted, and substituted the mark's phone for one of their own, passing the original to Bond as she and the mark stumbled past him up to the mark's room.

Bond left the bar and headed to his room, Nadiya at Q-Branch in his ear as she talked him through copying off the files they needed. 008 gave the signal that the mark was asleep – the drugs dropped into her drinks having taken effect as planned.

“We done here, Nadiya?” Bond asked. He itched to ask her a question about Q, he knew they were friends, but he also knew that their conversation was being recorded and logged.

“We've got everything we need. Thank you 007. Nadiya signing off.”

The line went dead in his ear. Almost as if she didn't want to say too much.

Bond left his room, passed the phone to 008 who was waiting outside and then started packing up.

A smooth mission with no one shooting at him. M would be pleased.

* * * * *

Bond and 008 got different flights back to London. Bond had considered disappearing for a while, he certainly was owed the time, but his need to know what had happened to Q, and why everyone was stonewalling him, was greater than his need to escape. Even Moneypenny was ignoring his calls.

And then there she was, waiting for him outside the airport.

“Miss Moneypenny. This is a lovely surprise.”

His expression said otherwise but Eve just smiled. “Get in the bloody car.”

Bond did as instructed, barely having time to put on his seat belt before she was roaring away from the kerb. He'd forgotten what her driving was like.

“Where are we going?” he asked casually, trying to map their destination as Eve turned corners at a speed that even he would have baulked at.

“That's need to know,” she said.

“Is M one of the people that knows?” he asked.

Eve shot him a look that he couldn't quite interpret and just managed to avoid hitting a bus. Bond decided that any more questions could wait.

* * * *

Eve parked in an underground car park in a part of London Bond wasn't too familiar with and then took them up a private lift to the 15th floor. Bond hadn't asked any more questions and Eve certainly hadn't been forthcoming with any information. He kept his wits about him though as they proceeded down a stark corridor until they came to a room guarded by two men he recognised from security at MI6.

“He's with me,” Eve said and the men relaxed their stance and nodded politely at Bond who acknowledged them with a swift nod of his own.

He watched with interest as Eve punched in a code to the door and then placed her hand against the scanner attached to the doorknob.

When they walked inside it was to find an industrial looking kitchen area that lead to a small living room with a fold out sofa bed on which Q was sitting cross-legged and furiously tapping away at his laptop. Bond resolutely did not look at Eve who was regarding him like a specimen under a microscope. He didn't think he'd let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Q but he certainly wasn't going to second guess himself now.

Q looked up after a moment and Bond really did have to remember all of his training not to react to the freshly stitched cut across Q's forehead and the bulky bandages on his shoulders not quite hidden by a dark grey t-shirt.

“How are you feeling?” Eve asked, moving to sit next to Q.

“Head feels like it might explode, but other than that...”

“Staring at a computer screen can't be helping,” Bond said.

Q glared at him but instead of arguing put the laptop to one side. “I didn't know you were coming.”

Bond shrugged and looked at Eve. “Neither did I.”

“M wanted this known to as few people as possible,” Eve explained. “Have you heard of Alexei Kuznetsov?”

Bond thought for a moment and then nodded. “Russian banker, made his millions in oil. Funds whatever terrorist group catches his eye. Suspected of war crimes but no one has been able to make them stick because...” He stopped and smiled grimly at Q. “Because no one has managed to hack into his private server before.”

Q shrugged and then winced and rubbed at his shoulder. “M asked me to look into it after the bombing in Prague. It took a while but I finally got in...” He sighed and looked at Eve who just patted his arm sympathetically. “Turned out one of my people was working for Kuznetsov. When they realised I'd cracked his defences they fired a rocket launcher of all things at the car that was taking me home. The driver died. And Liam...Liam wiped all the data I'd retrieved, and god knows what else trying to cover his tracks.”

“The only other people that know Q is alive are M, Tanner and Nadiya Danvers,” Eve said. “And it needs to stay that way. Which is why Q isn't going to be hacking into anyone's servers in case they recognise his signature.”

Q sighed loudly but didn't say anything. Bond could sympathise, if their positions were reversed he'd be doing everything he could to get back at whoever had attacked him.

“Where's this Liam now?”

“Under surveillance. And not your problem.”

Bond looked at Eve and raised an eyebrow. Then he looked at Q who'd gone very still, having realised at the same time why Bond was there.

“Babysitting?” Bond asked.

Q glared at him and picked up his laptop, shutting it down without looking at anybody else.

“We need Q to be moved to a secure location. And there's no one else M trusts for this.” Eve looked pointedly at Q. “It has to be someone Q trusts as well.”

“Of course,” Bond agreed. He waited patiently until Q looked up. “I'll make sure nothing happens to you.”

“I monitor most of your missions,” Q said, “I'm not sure that's the kind of promise I should be holding you to.”

Bond smiled. “Well they do say it's the thought that counts.”

Eve laughed and stood up. “Glad to see that's all sorted. I'll give you the specs while Q packs.”

Eve and Bond moved off to the kitchen while Q disappeared into another room.

“He's pretty shaken up,” Eve said. She rifled through a file on the kitchen counter and handed it to Bond. “He was doing CPR on the driver when the police arrived, covered in blood. He didn't even realise he'd been hurt himself till they made him get in the ambulance.”

“I meant what I said, I'm not going to let anything happen to him.”

Eve looked at him closely and he waited for her to decide whether or not she believed him. He must have passed her test because she smiled and started to put on her jacket.

“Make sure that you do. There will be pre-programmed burner phones at the safe house, secure wifi, though Q won't be allowed to log into the main server however much he might argue about it. We'll be taking Liam in for questioning as soon as you're safely away and putting together a team to take down Kuznetsov. All you have to do is make sure they don't find out he's alive.”

“Consider it done.”

* * * * *

Bond and Q swapped cars three times before they were finally on the long stretch of road to take them up to the Lake District. They had barely exchanged a word other than for Bond to issue instructions which Q took without argument. Bond was suspicious of the compliance but grateful for the moment that he wasn't going to have to get into a discussion about rank and following orders in the field.

Q was staring out of the window head lolling to one side. At one point he almost fell asleep and jerked himself awake, pushing his glasses awkwardly up his nose and shifting slightly in his seat.

“How much further?” he asked Bond.

Bond glanced at the SatNav before answering, even though he knew precisely how long it would take. “About twenty minutes. There's some water in the glove compartment.”

Q nodded and silently removed a bottle, taking a careful sip before putting it back.

“Did the mission go okay? With 008?”

“It was fine. Nadiya did a good job.”

Q nodded. “She's the best coder we've had in the Branch for ages. Everyone likes her.”

“Everyone likes you too,” Bond said.

Q shot him a look. “I wasn't suggesting they didn't.”

Bond ignored his misstep in favour of changing the subject. “Eve said there will be a live feed we can watch when they take Liam in.”

“Right.”

“People trying to kill you means a job well done in this line of business.”

Q had nothing to say to that; he didn't have anywhere near as much experience as Bond did with people wanting him dead.

* * * * *

They arrived at the house exactly at the time scheduled. It was a squat stone building with a neat front garden and a gate to one side that lead to what Bond could see was an extensive back garden. There was a palm print and eye recognition at the front door and Bond activated them before taking in their bags while Q followed behind with his laptop. Bond made Q wait at the entrance while he checked the security arrangements.

“Both bedrooms are en suite, you have any preference?”

“No,” Q said, looking curiously around.

The front door lead straight into the living room which was made up of two long sofas arranged in an L-shape around a large screen TV placed underneath the front window. The open plan kitchen was off to the right and looked to be well stocked with pots and pans and a large American style fridge. Two open doors past the kitchen lead off to the bedrooms.

Bond waited patiently for Q to make a decision. He put his laptop down on the table in front of the TV, took his bag from Bond, wincing a little as he remembered he still had an injured shoulder and then headed into the bedroom on the right. Bond took his bag into the other room and gave it a cursory glance.

A large double bed with clean white sheets and duvet took up most of the room with a small bedside table with lamp and alarm clock on the left and a small writing desk and chair tucked into the far corner. The bathroom door was off to the left with a shower only, Q's room had both a shower and a bath.

Directly opposite the bedroom door were large glass doors leading out to a patio and the garden. This was going to be a problem from a security perspective but he'd worry about that later.

He turned around to find Q watching him curiously from the doorway.

“Everything all right?”

Q nodded and then shook his head. “Can you – I need to change the dressing on my shoulder.”

“Right, do you -”

Q held up the first aid kit in his hand and Bond took it from him and moved towards the bathroom. “It'll be easier in here,” he explained.

Q followed Bond hesitatingly and then sat down on the toilet seat. Bond ignored the flush on Q's cheeks and the fluttering of his eyelashes as he helped him remove his shirt. Instead he focused on the burn wound on Q's shoulder and not hurting him any more than necessary as he removed the dressing, applied salve and put on a new dressing. He could feel his own heart beating in time with Q's but chose to ignore both.

Bond's hand lay on Q's shoulder a beat too long and he had to really fight the urge to lean closer into Q's warmth. Q's leg twitched and he bit his lip and Bond thought if Q looked up he'd capture those lips in his own. Which is why he stepped back and picked up the first aid kit.

“I'll put this away,” Bond said and disappeared out of the room. He'd forgotten that Q would need help getting redressed but Q seemed to sort this problem out for himself – the next time Bond saw him some minuets later he'd managed to put on a cardigan.

“Food?” Bond asked.

Q nodded and moved over to help, pulling out pans as Bond passed over pasta and started to chop up some vegetables. They worked in companionable silence, keeping their distance as they moved around each other and once the food was ready they moved over to the small dining table and proceeded to eat in silence.

“I think I'll go lie down for a bit, if that's all right,” Q said, pushing himself gingerly away from the table.

“Of course,” Bond agreed. “I'll do a perimeter sweep. I don't have to tell you - “

“Not to stick my head outside, not to open any windows or doors, not to try to phone anyone, yes, I do know.”

Bond ignored the sniping tone in favour of pouring Q a glass of water and distributing some ibuprofen. Q took them with a grumbled thanks and Bond kept the smile off his face until Q couldn't see it.

Bond waited till he heard the click of Q's bedroom door before clearing away the dishes and checking his gun. He'd known in some way at the back of his mind that this was going to be difficult but he hadn't counted on just how much easier it was to flirt with Q when separated by thousand of miles.

Deciding that worrying about that could best be done later he moved into his own bedroom and through the glass patio doors and then loped back to the front door. There were no other houses for miles and only one driveway approach covered by CCTV cameras linked to a laptop in the living room so it should be easy enough to spot any one approaching from that direction. The back of the house was slightly trickier, with some overgrowing bushes that Bond would have rather been cut back but he couldn't do anything about that now. Still, he checked carefully for signs of disturbance or footprints in the mud but saw no evidence that anyone had been there in some weeks.

Finally he moved around to the patio doors leading into Q's bedroom. Q was apparently asleep, curled up on top of the covers facing away from the window. Bond watched him for longer than he should have and then went back inside.

It was far too early for him to sleep so he headed into the living room and fired up the laptop, putting the live CCTV feed up in one corner and then pulling up his emails. Moneypenny had been as good as her word, as always, and provided him with a full dossier on Kuznetsov that he immediately started to familiarise himself with. The words “impenetrable security system” featured a lot and he couldn't help smiling at Q's ingenuity as he read Q's own report on how he'd managed to trick the system into letting him in. He doubted there was anyone else in the world who could have managed it.

Bond then spotted the video of the attack, caught on several cameras and patched together by Q-Branch. He transferred it to the TV so he could get a better look and watched with a clinical eye as the rocket launcher hit the back of Q's car and flipped it onto its roof, flames engulfing it. He leaned forward, concerned despite himself, as Q appeared, crawling over broken glass and clearly disorientated before turning back and pulling the driver free. Some pedestrians ran over to help and Q was motioning at them until one of them got out their phone and then Q began performing CPR until he was finally pulled away by the police and paramedics.

“They said he was probably dead as soon as the car flipped.”

Bond looked up to find Q standing by the table, a plaid blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“But you still followed your training. You did good.”

Q snorted softly and sat down on the arm of the sofa. “If I'd covered my tracks better...”

“Hey,” Bond said, putting a hand on Q's thigh, trying not to notice the way Q's eyes dilated at his touch, “without you MI6 wouldn't be able to take Kuznetsov down in the first place. He's....”

Something, some change in atmosphere, some hint of light that shouldn't have been there, registered with Bond before he was conscious of it and he was knocking Q down to the floor and covering him with his body even as the bullets charged over their heads.

“Kitchen,” Bond hissed, pushing Q along as they ducked down behind the kitchen counters.

Two men came barrelling in from the direction of Q's bedroom and Bond stood up and took them both out with a single bullet then ducking down again and pushing Q even further behind him despite Q's attempt to stop him.

Another figure appeared, female this time, who vaulted over the counter before Bond could aim and they were suddenly engaged in close combat, punches flying. Bond was focused on keeping her away from Q more than stopping her altogether which proved a mistake when she twisted him on to his back, a garrotte in her hand aiming unerringly at his neck. He tried to push her away but her legs were like steel bolts around his waist and he couldn't shake her loose.

He was so focused on protecting his neck that he didn't see Q move until he was hitting the assassin over the head with a saucepan, loosening her grip enough that Bond could scrabble free and shoot her, twice, in the chest.

“We need to leave,” Bond said, pushing the dead woman away from him. “Q, focus.”

Q, who had been standing dumbly with the saucepan still in his quivering hand, nodded and put it down on the floor.

“Stay close,” Bond told him, going into his room to grab his bag before allowing Q to do the same. “We can't take the car, we'll have to go on foot. Are you with me? Q, are you with me?”

Q blinked as Bond not too gently shook him.

“I'm fine,” he said. Bond raised an eyebrow. “Let's just get moving.”

“Wait,” Bond said, “take his.” Bond handed over a gun and watched approvingly as Q checked the bullets and then rolled his eyes at Bond's scrutiny.

“You know I built this from scratch?”

“I'm aware,” Bond said with a small smile. “Now do as you're told.”

He was sure that Q said something under his breath to that but chose to ignore it in favour of getting the lay of the land. Glass was broken all over Q's bed and there could be any number of people waiting out there in the darkening night. The best thing they had going for them was that they could move relatively quickly and that Bond had memorised all the possible escape routes.

He headed straight for the bushes, noting the fresh footprints but no other signs of life. He'd have noticed if they had a car nearby so the best route would be to use the element of surprise and go along the back road until it reached a small copse that lead into the nearest village where they'd be able to regroup.

He relayed his idea to Q who silently nodded. Bond realised that they were standing very close and took a small step away, not looking at Q's face to see how he was reacting to that. He couldn't afford to be distracted when Q's life and his own was in danger.

They started to move, Bond staying a few steps ahead. He could practically hear Q's rapid heartbeat but Q didn't complain even when they had to crawl on the muddy floor to avoid the searchlight from a helicopter that suddenly appeared on the horizon.

“The Russians?” Q asked.

Bond nodded. “Could be. Where the hell is that back-up?”

“What back-up?” Q asked.

“I activated the panic button before we left,” Bond said. He pulled Q under the branches of a nearby tree giving them some well needed cover. “We're outgunned,” he said, looking at Q. “The only way we're going to get out of this...”

“No,” Q interrupted.

“ _Q_.”

“You're not going to use yourself as a distraction. I'm not going to let you.”

Q looked so absolutely determined that the only response Bond could think of was to lean forward and kiss him.

Q reacted by putting his arms around Bonds' neck and pulling him closer and Bond groaned into his mouth bringing their bodies flush against each other. They jumped apart when Bond's phone began to ring.

He twisted his bag around and fished it out as quickly as he could, Q taking up an alert stance with his gun in case any of their pursuers had heard.

“Moneypenny, good news I hope?”

“Shouldn't I be asking you that?” she asked, sounding thoroughly amused. Bond had a very bad feeling.

“Where are you?”

“M's office,” she said. “Though that's not the question you should be asking.”

The helicopter sounded like it was hovering right above them now and he and Q clearly had the same thought at the same moment because they both softly swore under their breaths.

“Not the Russians?” Q asked.

“It would appear not,” Bond agreed as Moneypenny softly laughed in his ear.

“The tweaks Q made to the heat seeking cameras are very good,” she said. “Very illuminating.”

Q groaned and lowered his head to the ground. Bond rubbed a comforting hand over his leg without really thinking about it.

“We have the perpetrators in custody,” M told him, clearly having decided to take over as the voice of reason. “Nadiya had the excellent idea of convincing Kuznetsov's co-conspirators that he had betrayed them and they took care of him for us.”

Q raised his head to smile at Bond. “Told you she was good.”

Bond fought the urge to kiss him again and settled for shifting their positions so they looked farther apart than they really were. Q looked amused but didn't say anything.

“Permission to take the rest of the week off, sir?” Bond asked.

“I'm just to pretend I have any choice in the matter, I suppose? No, don't answer that. Q needs to recuperate anyway.” There was a short pause. “Try not to wear him out too much,” M added and then hung up before Bond could.

“Did he just....?” Q asked, trailing off as the sound of the helicopter above them started to retreat.

“Smart man,” Bond agreed with a lascivious grin that turned into a full blown laugh when Q irritatingly punched him softly in the shoulder.

“I'm never going to hear the end of this,” Q pouted.

Bond kissed him quickly, because he could and then started to help him up. “A bit of office gossip never killed anyone,” he said. “And your reputation could do with the boost.”

“My reputation?” Q said. “I think you'll find your reputation will be much improved by the time we get back.”

Bond struggled to keep a straight face in light of Q's haughty expression especially when Q narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously.

“Come on,” Bond said, choking back a laugh, “the sooner we get moving the quicker we can find a decent hotel. I'm thinking satin sheets on a four poster.”

Q's expression became even more suspicious, if such a thing were possible.

“Do you already have somewhere in mind?”

Bond shrugged, a bit too nonchalantly. “It always pays to be prepared.”

“You realise I'm going to hold you to that,” Q said.

“I should bloody well hope so,” Bond replied, pushing Q up against the nearest tree and raining kisses along his neck and jaw line until Q was helplessly panting against him. Then he stepped back and rearranged his trousers under Q's watchful gaze.

“Coming?” Bond asked mischievously, not waiting to see if he was indeed following as he moved back towards the house and where their car was hopefully still in one piece.

“More than once, I hope,” Q muttered.

Bond laughed, but if his steps quickened from that point on there was no one around to complain, least of all Q.


End file.
